Badminton: Top five records in the sport

A list of some of the most unique stats in the sport.

Badminton is a fast-paced action-packed affair. The match is filled with end-to-end excitement and thrill as players look to better understand each other. The objective is quite simple. Hit the shuttlecock in a manner so that your opponent can't make a return. The playing area is as such demarcated and the game format is kind of similar to tennis. Except for the fact that the tennis ball here is replaced by a shuttlecock and the pointing system is in sequence. As opposed to tennis where the points jump from 15 to 30 and then 40.

The badminton court is 13.4m long and 6.1m wide. For singles, however, it is narrowed down to 5.18m in width. The game is played in singles, doubles and mixed doubles formats. Badminton may be one of the oldest sports there is. The game dates back 2000 years to Siam, China. As such it has a long legacy. Today we are going to talk about some of the most interesting records that the sport has offered.

5. Hendra Setiawan's 22 consecutive All England finals

Hendra Setiawan created the record of playing in a final for most consecutive years when he reached the All England Open 2023 final. Setiawan first burst into the scene with his 2002 Asian Junior Championship for Indonesia. Since then, he is the all-time greatest in the men’s doubles segment of badminton.

He has one Olympics medal, four world championships, two Asian games, and two All England titles under his belt. Currently ranked third in the world, Satiawan looks to have some more years at his disposal. By the time he finally calls it quits, his record of consistency at the top will be extremely difficult for any player to topple.

4. Israeli mother-son duo mixed doubles partners

Israeli mom and son duo of Svetlana and Misha Zilberman are the only known mom and son pair competing in international badminton tournaments. No, not just competing but winning as well. Surprisingly enough Svetlana is in her mid 60's and Misha too is aged in his mid-'30s which is considered old in the world of professional sports.

However, nothing stopped Svetlana as she rolled back the years and broke records for Israel alongside her son Misha at the world championships in Tokyo last year. They beat the pair of Adham Hatem Elgamal and Doha Hany at the Badminton World Championships (16-21,21-18,21-11).

Ironically Belarus-born Svetlana was not considered for the Soviet Union's team for the championships when she was in the prime of her career. Their reason being she was too "old".

3. Lee Chong Wei hits the fastest smash

Lee Chon Wei holds the record for the second-fastest smash in the world whooped at 408 kmph. The fastest smash record is held by Mads Pieler Kolding that clocked 426 kmph. However, that isn't officially recorded as it happened in the Premier Badminton League which is not recognized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Wei nailed the smash at the 2015 Hong Kong Open. Due to his ban for doping, he suffered a drop in his ranking and was unseeded at the tournament. The 34-year-old won the tournament on his much-awaited comeback which was a massive turning point in his career.

2. Longest badminton match

The 1997 men's singles final of the World Championship at Glasgow was truly one of a kind. This was the longest match ever played. The 124-minute match between Peter Rasmussen (Denmark) and Sun Jun (China) went on for over two hours straight.

As soon as Jun's return hit the net while returning Rasmussen's smash the match reached its finality. Rasmussen and his coaching staff stood up to celebrate this momentous victory. The Dane won 16-17,18-13, 15-10.

1. Gao Ling holds the most Olympic medal

Gao Ling holds the record for the most Olympic medals in badminton history. She won the silver medal in women’s doubles and a gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The Chinese female player also won a gold medal in mixed doubles and a bronze in women’s doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

On the court, Ling was known for her technique, anticipation and forecourt prowess. Ling's tally of four Olympic medals is yet to be touched.